Ludography
70/100
Players26 ratings
80/100
Critics1 review
More scores
Metacritic14 critic reviews
74/100
Metacritic usersuser score
74/100
GameFAQsEasy
2.5/5
Player reviews
83% positive213 reviews
Steam Deck
Playable
Runs on
Windows
Price
US$4.99

Where to get it

Kamiko cover

2017 · Action · Action-adventure

Kamiko

Timed Nintendo exclusive

KAMIKO is a game styled around Japanese Shinto beliefs.

Released
13 April 2017
Platforms
Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4WindowsXbox One
Genres
ActionAction-adventureAdventureArcadeBeat 'em upIndiePuzzleRole-playing
Developers
—
Publishers
—
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Bird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionFantasyScience fiction
Country
Japan
Age ratings
ESRB ECERO APEGI 3CLASS_IND LUSK 6ACB G
Languages
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, Japanese
Copies sold
110,000 as of 2017-07-10
Time to beat
1hmain story

About

Kamiko is an action game developed by Skipmore and published by Flyhigh Works. The game was first released for the Nintendo Switch in April 2017, and was later ported to Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2019. The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics.

›Story

The player controls "Kamiko," a shrine maiden who fights against demons, and aims to clear each stage by defeating demons that block her way and unraveling the riddle of the gimmick.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Kamiko is an action game in which players fight as miko called "kamiko" and battle against demons while solving puzzles to make their way through the stages. There are three miko available to choose from, each of which has a unique fighting style: Yamato, a water miko who fights with a sword; Uzume, an earth miko who uses a bow and arrow, and Hinome, a fire miko who wields a sacred dagger and shield.

After defeating enemies, players earn SP points, which fill up a Special Attack gauge. Players can chain combos together by consecutively defeating enemies, which increases the amount of SP obtained at once. When 50 SP points are obtained, players can trigger a "Special Attack", allowing the player to attack a wide range of enemies in the surrounding area at once.

Story

Bestowing the chosen player titular character with one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, the old man sends her on a quest to unseal the gates and fight off the demons. In each level of Kamiko, the player is tasked with releasing the seals on four sealed gates spread throughout the level.

Development

In 2016, Flyhigh Works and Skipmore were developing the game Picontier, which was planned for release on Steam. However, Flyhigh Works determined that development would take longer than was expected, and proposed creating a smaller-scale work as a preliminary step. Skipmore also felt it was necessary to obtain more funding to finish development of Picontier. As such, development of Kamiko began in December 2016.

Development proceeded rapidly, as the original goal was to release the game as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2017. For this reason, the game was designed to be short and easily replayable, following the design philosophy of classic arcade games that revolved around clearing stages quickly. Skipmore drew inspiration from Valkyrie no Densetsu (1989) and Dark Seal (1990). Time attack elements were added as well.

Reception

According to review aggregator site Metacritic, Kamiko received "mixed or average" reviews on Switch. According to Circle Entertainment CEO Chris Chau, Kamiko had sold over 110,000 times by July 2017 on the Nintendo Switch. In April 2018, Flyhigh Works announced that the game had sold over 200,000 copies on the Switch. As of June 2019, the title has sold over 250,000 copies on Switch.

Nintendo Life's Morgan Sleeper stated that the game "nails the feeling of general progression" while praising the gameplay as making up for what little the game has to offer. He also enjoyed the fact that the three playable characters lent "an entirely different flow" to the game which "helped extend the replay value of what is otherwise a very brief experience". Nintendo World Report's Daan Koopman called the game's retro aesthetic "lovely" and its flow "grand". He also noted the games "slower moments" that "never really" dragged the game down. Koopman also disliked the shortness of Kamiko, but felt that it "absolutely owns up" to its brief length.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Nintendo Switch13 April 2017Japan · Worldwide 27 April 2017
Windows26 June 2019Worldwide
PlayStation 427 June 2019Japan · Worldwide 19 March 2020
Xbox One28 August 2019Worldwide

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Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.